Theater chair



Reissuecl Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THEATER CHAIR Leo A.Meltzer, Seattle, Wash.

19 Claims.

My invention relates to theater chairs or the like, and is equallyadapted to individual chairs or to the several chairs of a group formedas a single unit. In a theater one is often` disturbed by a personpassing in front of his chair between the rows of seats. Heretofore theseats oi theaterA chairs have been pivotally supported, so that they maybe swung upward against the backs, but in a chair of this type, toallow' someone to pass, the chair occupant must stand in order to makeroom sufficient to allow a person to pass between the occupant and theback of the chair ahead. This is disturbing to the person who must rise,and also to persons behind him,

whose view is cut off until the occupant of the seat in front has againseated himself and rearranged warps, packages, etc.

AMy invention eliminates the necessity of a spectator rising to allowsomeone to pass by providing a chair seat which is movable relative tothe support. Thus the occupant may merely move the seat to the rear inorder to withdraw hisknees suciently to provide passing room in front ofthe chair.

Another object of my invention is to provide a theater chair having sucha movable seat which will not interfere with anyone passing or seatedbehind the chair for any position of the seat, and which has nopartsprojecting from the rear of the chair when the seat is moved to therear.

A further object is to provide a chair seat which is not only movable orslidable to the rear, but which may be tilted up and locked in arearward position when the chair is not being occupied, in

order to facilitate sweeping and to remove the seat projection from theaisle when the seat is not occupied. v

A still further object of my invention is to provide such a theaterchair which may have all the comforts found in any conventional type oftheater chair, and which has plenty of room underneath so that a personsitting behind may stretch forward his legs.

Other objects of my invention will more particularly be set forth in thefollowing description of a preferred form of thetheater chair.

My invention comprises the novel construction described in thisspecification, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and defined inthe claims appended to this specification.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my theater chair seen from the sidewith the seat in the normal sitting position. Figure 2 is a similar viewshowing the seat slid to a rearward position.' Figure 3 is a sectionalelevation of my theater chair, looking from the front, on the line 3-3of Figure 2.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the seat construction.

In its preferred form my theater chair includes 5 .A a standard l onwhich a seat 2 is slidably supported on'slides 3. While the standardconstitutes a general support for the seat, the member 3 is termed thesupport, since it is the immediate support for the seat. The chair mayhave the 10- conventional back 4 and arms 5.

The seat itself is, composed of a plurality of sections, and I haveshown a front section 6 and a rear section 1 hingedly connected at 8.The seat is guided for substantially horizontal linear i5 movement bypins 6I and 62 moving in grooves E!) formed in the standard I at eachside of the seat. Movement of the seat both forward and rearward islimited by engagement of these pins with the ends of the slots. A springor springs 20 63 connected between the seat and the standard continuallyurges the seat forward into the normal sitting position.

The hinge 8 joins side plates 64 of the front section with plates 10 ofthe rear section, so that 25 the hinge lies substantially in the upperplane of the seat. With this construction no gap occurs between the twosections when one is swung relative to the other. This construction isequally adapted for upholstered and plain seats, but for 30 the lattertype a different type of hinge might be used, and the plates 64 and 10could be dispensed with. In an upholstered seat, as shown,

I prefer to use an inner plate 61 to form a pocket in the upholsteringwithin which the end of plate 35 10 may move.

The operation of the seat will be apparent from the foregoingdescription. When the occupant desires to let someonepass he merelyslides back, which moves the seat to the rearward position, 40 whereuponthe rear section, being unsupported, since it has slid rearwardly of thehorizontal portion of the slides or supports 3, swings downward relativeto the front section and the support in the position shown in Figure 2.If wraps 45 are thrown over the seat back, they are not disturbed bythis rearward movement of the seat, and no disturbance of persons in therear is occasioned by the necessity of the seat occupant rearrangingthem. Parcels held in the lap are 50 similarly undisturbed. After theperson has passed, the occupant may again slide the seat forward,assisted by springs 63. The rear section 1 will be brought back intosubstantially horizontal position by engagement with the downwardly 55.

curved rear portions of the slides 3, and will be supported in the planeof the front section by the horizontal portion of this slide.

In order to move the seat out of the way for sweeping and cleaningpurposes, or when unoccupied, it may be slid to the rear whereupon therear seat section 'l/'will drop down and the front seat section E may betilted upwardly about the hinge 8. The pin 62 will be guided in the slot65 extending upwardly from the slot 60 and terminating in notches 66.The spring 63, tending to urge the seat forward, will hold it in thisupraised position by urging the pin 62 into the notches 6B, as seen inFigure 2. A slight backward push on the seat in this position willrelease the pin, and the seat may then be easily swung down and moved tothe normal forward position.

In order to protect the feet and legs of a person sitting behind, aguard 4I may be provided which I have shown formed integral with theback 4, which will extend down below the rear seat section when it hasbeen swung downward, as seen in Figure 2. A further guard 42 may extendforward from the guard 4I beneath the rear section when it is swungdownward, in order to prevent a foot of the person behind being caughtbetween the rear section of the'seat and the chair back, thus to preventinjury to such person in the rear, or interference with free operationof the seat.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A theater chair or the Llike comprising a member provided with aledge, a seat including a front section and a rear section hingedlyconnected to the front section, said seat being slidable rearwardly andforwardly on said ledge, the latter, in the forward position of theseat, engaging beneath both sections to maintain them in a common plane,and being of such length that, in the rearward position of the seat, therear section is unsupported and swings downwardly, to decrease theeffective length of the seat as a whole.

2. A theater chair or the like comprising a standard having asubstantially horizontal slot, a seat slidably supported for movementrelative thereto between a forward and a rearward position, and guidepins moving in said slot, and normally restraining the seatffor linearmovement, and said standard having a further slot therein extendingupwardly from the-horizontal slot and behind the position assumed by theforemostrof said guide pins when the seat is in its forward position,such upwardly extending slot being adapted to guide the foremost of saidguide pins for upward movement when the seat is slid to its rearwardposition, to tilt the seat.

3. The combination of claim 2, and a notch ai the terminus of theupwardly extending slot, wherein the foremost of the guide pins mayengage when the seat is tilted upwardly, and a spring urging such pininto the notch, thus to hold the seat in a tilted position.

4. A theater chair or the like comprising a standard, a support, al seatslidably supported on said support for movement between a forward and arearward position, and including a front section and a rear section, ahinge interconnecting said two seat sections about which the rearsection may swing downward relatively to the support when the seat isslid to such rearward position, said front seat section being adapted tobe swung upwardly relative to the said rear seat section and about saidhingeas a pivot, when the seat is slid to such rearward position, guidemeans interengageable between said standard and said front seat sectionfor guiding the latter into its upwardly swung position, and means tomaintain said seat in its rearward position, the rear section thereofbeingswung downwardly and the front section being swung upwardlyrelatively to said support.

5. A theater chair or the like comprising a standard, a support thereon,a seat supported on said support and including a main section and a rearsection, a hinge interconnecting said main and rear sections about whichthe latter may swing downward below the normal plane of the seat into adownwardly swung position, and guard means at the back of said standarddisposed behind the rear seat section and extending therebelow when itis in its downwardly swung position.

6. The combination of claim 5, and a member extending forward from thebottom portion of the guard means, beneath the rear seat sectionv whenit is in its downwardly swung position.

7. The combination of claim 5, and a back fixed to the standard, theguard means being formed'- as a downward continuation of said back,terminating a substantial distance above the floor level.

8. A theater chair or the like comprising a standard, a seat supportedtherefrom for sliding movement rearwardly by the chair occupant and fortilting movement about a transverse axis when in its rearward position,means interenga'ged between the seat and standard to prevent suchtilting movement until the seat is in rearward position, and a singlemeans acting between the seat and the standard to urge'the seat, whennot tilted, into a forward position, and when tilted, to resist movementof the seat away from l such tilted position.`

9. A theater chair or the like comprising a seat including a front and arear sectionhingedly connected, and movable from a normal forward`position to a rearward retracted position, a single support engagingbeneath both sections, at each side, and constituting the sole supportfor both sections when in the forward position', to maintain them in acommon plane, and said support being of such length that, in therearward position, the rear section is unsupported and swingsdownwardly, to decrease the effective length of the seat as a whole.

l0. A theater chair or the like comprising a seat including a front anda rear section, a transverse hinge connecting such sections and disposedsubstantially inthe plane of the upper surface of the seat, meansslidably supporting said seat sections for movement from a forward to arearward position including a member disposed beneath said seat, and ofsuch length that in the forward position of the seat it supports therear section and front section in coplanar relation, but in the rearposition of the seat it leaves the rear section unsupported, whereby thelatter swings on said hinge to decrease the effective length of the seatas a whole, said supporting means including means constraining the frontsection to sliding movement in its own plane, during movement betweensuch forward and rear positions.

11. A theater chair or the like comprising a seat including a front anda rear section, a transverse hinge connecting such sections, anupholstered cushion on each seat section, a continuous seat coverextending` from the rear cushion for- IMIv wardly over the frontsection, past the hinge `ioint therebetween, the axis of such hingelying substantially in the plane of said seat cover, supporting meansincluding a member disposed beneath and supporting the seat for slidingmovement to forward and rearward positions, and of such length that inthe forward position of the seat it supports the rear section and frontsection in coplanar relation, but in the rear position of the seat itleaves the rear section unsupported, whereby the. latter swings on saidhinge to decrease the effective length of the seat as a whole, saidsupporting means constraining the front section to sliding movement inits own plane, during movement between such forward and rear positions.

12. In a seating construction, a supporting frame, a seat including atleast two seat sections one of which is a front seat section and anotherlof which is a rear seat section, means interconnecting the said seatsections for movement together as a unit and formovement relative toeach other, and means carried by said supporting frame and cooperating.therewith to support the said seat sections for movement into and out ofrearward and forward positions, said supporting means including partscooperating with the said rear seat section to guide the latter into adownwardly swung position, relative to the said front seat section, whenthe said seat is moved into its rearward position, said supporting meansretaining the upper surface of the said front seat section insubstantially the same plane, and against movement therefrom, duringmovement of the said front seat section into and out of its rearward andforward positions.

13. In a seating construction, a supporting frame, a seat including atleast two seat sections one of which is a front seat section and anotherof which is a rear seat section, means interconnecting the said seatsections for movement together as a unit and for movement relative toeach other, and means carried by the said supporting frame andcooperating therewith to support the said seat sections for movementinto and out of rearward and forward positions, said supporting meansincluding trackways and each of said trackways including a substantiallyhorizontally extending front portion and a downwardly extending rearportion, and members carried by the said seat and movable along saidtrackways.

14. In a seating construction, a supporting frame, a box seat includingat least two upholstered seat sections one of which is a front seatsection and another of which is a rear seat section, meansinterconnecting the said seat sections for movement relative to eachother and together as a unit, means carried by the said supporting frameand cooperating therewith to support the said seat sections for movementinto and out of rearward and forward positions and in which latter orforward position the upper surfaces of said upholstered seat sectionslie in a substantially common plane and cooperate with each other toprovide an upholstered seating surface, said supporting means includingtrackways, and members carried by said seat and movable along saidtrackways, each of said trackways including a substantially horizontallyextending front portion and a downwardly extending rear portion so thatwhen the said seat is moved into its rearward position the said rearseat section will move downwardly relative to the said front seatsection and the upper surface of the then downwardly extending rear seatsection will be disposed out of the plane of, and vout of cooperativerelationship with, the upper surface of the said front seat section,said supporting means retaining thev upper surface of the said frontseat section in substantially the same plane, and against movementtherefrom, during movement of the said front seat section into and outof its rearward and forward positions.

l5: In a seating construction, a supporting frame, a box seat includingat least two upholstered seat sections one of which is a front seatsection and another of which is a rear seat section, meansinterconnecting the said seat sections for movement relative to eachother and together as a unit, means carried by the said supportingfra-me and cooperating therewith to support the said seat sections formovement into and out of rearward and forward positions and in whichlatter or forward position the upper surfaces of said seat sections liein a substantially common plane and cooperate with each other to providean upholstered seating surface, said supporting means including partscooperating with sai-d rear seat section to guide the latter into adownwardly swung position relative to tie said front seat section whenthe said seat is moved into its rearward position and in which positionthe upper surface of the then downwardly extending rear seat sectionwill be disposed out of the plane of, and out of cooperativerelationship with, the upper surface of the said front seat section,said supporting means retaining the upper surface of the said front seatsection in substantially the same plane, and against movement therefrom,during movement of the said front seat section into and out of itsrearward and forward positions.

16. The seating construction defined in claim 12 which is especiallydesigned and intended for use as a theater chair and in which the seatis a box seat consisting of an upholstered front seat section and anupholstered rear seat section mechanically interconnected, adjacent theupper surfaces thereof, and in which the seat isl provided with a coverextending over and concealing the joint between said front seat sectionand said rear seat section.

1'7. The seating construction dened in claim 13 which is especiallydesigned for use as a theater chair and in which the seat is a box seatconsisting of an upholstered front seat section and an upholstered rearseat section mechanically interconnected, at their meeting edges andadjacent the upper surfaces thereof, and in which the seat is providedwith a cover extending over and concealing the joint between said frontseat section and said rear seat section.

18. In a seating construction, a supporting structure, a seat structurecarried by said supporting structure and including a plurality of seatsections movable relative to each other and into and out of rearward andforward positions, and means for guiding said seat structure. into andout of its forward and rearward positions, said guiding means includingtrackways carried by one of said structures and means carried by theother one of said structures and engageable with said trackways, each ofsaid trackways including a downwardly extending rear portion.

19. In a seating construction, a supporting structure, a seat structurecarried by said sup'- porting structure and including a front seatsection and a rear seat section movable relative to each other and intoand out of rearward and forsopas ward positions, and. means includingcooperable parts. carried bvsaid structures` fior guidingsaidA seatstructureV into and out of its rear-Ward and forward positions, saidguiding means including,

y, parts cooperating with said rearr seat section for guiding the latterinto a. downwardly extending position, relative to the said front seatsection, as the said seat structure is moved into its rearward

